


Thace is Hurt

by moretrash



Series: Dads of Marmora [38]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Blood, Dads of Marmora (Voltron), Emotions, Guilt, Hurt/Comfort, In which emotions are taken out in negative ways and it's not good, It's not too gorey or anything but just in case, Keith (Voltron) is Bad at Feelings, Major Character Injury
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-24
Updated: 2018-10-19
Packaged: 2019-06-15 10:38:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 12,379
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15411105
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moretrash/pseuds/moretrash
Summary: Longer Title: Thace is Hurt, So I'm Gonna Let Out My Emotions in Negative Ways Because He's Basically 85% of My Impulse ControlThace gets injured and emotions run wild within the pack. It doesn't end well, but Thace knows just how to make it better.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt:
> 
> "What about a story where someone in Keith's pack gets sick or hurt and it really affects Keith. That would be interesting"

In Keith’s opinion, Thace was the most parental of the four Galra he consider father figures. Ulaz, Antok, and Kolivan were amazing parents as well, but Thace was the most parental in nature. Ulaz was smooth and professional, and wasn’t always entirely sure how to go about more out-of-control situations that came with being a parent. Kolivan was extremely strict in nature, and though he was much, much gentler towards his pack members and kits, that almost second-nature part of his personality slipped through at times. Antok was a warrior, tough and intimidating. He was really a big softie, but he didn’t always know how delicate kits could be. 

Thace, however?

Thace was gentle and kind, strict enough to enforce rules that were in place for safety, but not so strict that he scared the kits of the pack. He was an older sibling, and knew how delicate young kits could be, so he knew how much force he could use when he play-fought with the kits. He knew how to handle the out-of-control, messy situations and emotions. 

The other three were trying their best and Keith loved them, but it was widely-accepted that Thace had the easiest time with caring for kits.

Though, all four men looked to Krolia for guidance, since she had been raising Acxa and knew a lot more about kits that she did.

-

Thace had been on a mission for a week. Ulaz had been short-tempered and upset since day 3 on his mission, but everyone understood, and gave him some slack. After all, being separated from their mates for extended periods of time was stressful and upsetting for Galra. 

Ulaz had taken the last two days off from going to the medical bay, instead curling up miserably in Thace’s usual spot in the nest and whining miserably. 

Kolivan and Antok had missed Thace as well, but not nearly as much as Ulaz did. It wasn’t that they didn’t love and care about Thace, it was just that the bond between mates was much deeper than that of pack members. 

Keith, Acxa, and Regris had missed Thace a great amount. They wanted their father figure back, in all honesty.

So, the day Thace was due to arrive back with his team, his pack went down to greet him, the same way they would for anyone else in their pack arriving home from a mission. Keith was hanging near the back of the group, close to Kolivan. His tail was intertwined with Antok’s since the other tailed Galra had linked their tails in a version of hand-holding to ensure that Keith didn’t get left behind because he couldn’t keep up with their longer strides. Whenever he felt Keith’s tail start to slip, he would slow down so that Keith could keep up. 

“Holy quiznak, Thace! Ulaz, Thace is hurt!” Regris exclaimed when he saw Thace. Keith followed his brother’s gaze, whimpering quietly when he saw Thace.

The man had a long gash that ran the length of his side, being held up by one of his teammates. He seemed to be barely conscious, but Keith wasn’t surprised; it seemed like he had lost a lot of blood. He had bandages wrapped around the wound, but blood was quickly seeping through. No first aid kits of the ships had nearly enough bandages to adequately cover a wound like that, but it seemed as though Thace’s teammates had tried their best to curb the bleeding.

“Thace! Thace, my mate. Quiznak, what happened?” Ulaz asked, taking Thace from the teammate’s arms and holding him securely.

“He had a run-in with a sword.” The teammate explained. Ulaz nodded and rushed out towards the medical bay, cooing soothing nothings to Thace. Keith tried to follow, but he was gently pulled in the direction of their nest by Antok. Though Keith struggled, Antok held him firm.

“I know you want to go make sure Thace is okay, my kit, but we can’t. Ulaz will most likely have to do some complicated procedures. We all want to see Thace as well, but we will only be in the way. I promise, Ulaz will call us when we can go see him.” Antok said. Keith whined and struggled in Antok’s grip, insistent on going to see Thace. 

When they entered the nest, everyone could see how Keith was eyeing the door as if planning out an escape. Krolia reached over and pulled Keith close, rumbling quietly.

“Kit, settle down. Thace will be okay, I promise. You just have to give Ulaz time to take care of him.” Krolia said.

“How do you know for sure Thace will be okay?” Keith countered. Krolia paused in surprise and sighed sadly.

“I don’t know for sure. There is always a chance of death from an injury. But I’ve also seen blades survive much more critical injuries.” Krolia said. Keith growled lowly.

“Then don’t promise me he’s going to be fine if you don’t know for sure!” Keith snapped, shocking everyone. They knew that Keith was close to Thace and that seeing him so injured probably greatly affected Keith, but they hadn’t expected Keith to react like that. 

“Kit, I know it’s hard, but I’m sure he’ll be fine. Just take a nap, and I’m sure we’ll be able to see him shortly after you wake up.” Kolivan said softly. Keith sighed but nodded, laying down and curling up between Kolivan and Antok. The pair hugged him securely and tugged a blanket over him, watching him until he fell asleep.

-

When Keith woke up, he was faced with every other member of his pack being asleep. It seemed as though they had all had the same idea of sleeping until Ulaz came to get them so that they didn’t take their emotions out on other pack members. 

Keith glaced at the door and back to his sleeping pack members, getting an idea. He knew he would likely get in trouble for it, but he really just wanted to see if Thace was okay. 

He got up, careful not to wake Antok and Kolivan, slipping out the door. He went down to the medical bay and sighed when he saw Ulaz, hunched over a bed that he knew held Thace based only on the vibrant purple fur. He shuffled closer to Ulaz. 

“Ulaz?” He called softly. Ulaz jumped and turned around, sighing when he saw Keith.

“Kit, I know you’re worried, but I really need you to leave right now.” Ulaz said. Keith frowned and tilted his hair.

“Why? It’s not like I’ve never seen blood before.” Keith challenged. Ulaz sighed softly.

“Kit, I’m not going to ask you again. Leave, please. It is not because I don’t want you to see blood, it’s because you’ll be in the way, despite your best intentions.” Ulaz said. 

“Then I’ll sit out of the way!” Keith suggested.

“Keith, leave. I don’t need you in the way right now,” Ulaz said, quickly losing the patience that he was usually known for. He hadn’t meant it to come out so harsh, but he was worried about Thace and just wanted to get back to treating him.

Keith paused before sighing and turning around, leaving. He had only heard that tone of voice a few times from Ulaz, and he knew not to push it. He wandered back to the nest, running into Regris along the way.

“Hey, Regris.” Keith greeted, pausing when he saw the frown on his brother’s face. 

“You went to see Thace without Ulaz telling us we could.” He said, knowing that it wasn’t a question that needed to be asked. Keith sighed softly.

“Yeah, so what?” Keith asked. Regris growled lowly, causing Keith to take a step back out of surprise.

“Do you realize how selfish that was?” Regris asked. Keith sputtered in surprise; of all the things he had expected Regris to say, that hadn’t been anywhere near the list.

“What? Selfish? Why, just because I was worried about Thace?” Keith asked. Regris growled and leaned close to Keith, causing the younger of the two to duck his head and tuck himself away, like a wolf showing submission. 

“No. What if you had distracted Ulaz and Thace died because of it? What if you had surprised Ulaz and made him hit something that killed Thace?” He asked. “You should just wait, but no, you can never just listen to anybody.” Regris snapped. Keith stepped back in surprise, blinking.

“I didn’t think about that.” He admitted.

“You never think about the consequences of anything you do. You think about it later, and that’s the problem.” Regris said. Keith frowned and looked away. He tried to follow Regris back into their nesting room, but he stumbled backwards when Regris shoved him back.

“No, go away. Come back when you can actually think about the consequences of what you do.” Regris said, going inside. Keith stood outside the door, his hands trembling lightly and his lower lip trembling like he was going to start crying.

Keith blinked away the tears that formed in his eyes, deeming it not important. After all, he had no right to cry over Regris being mean to him when Thace could have died earlier, right? Keith turned around and wandered to a section of the headquarters that was rarely used. He had discovered the section while playing a game of hide-and-seek with some kits from another base that had been brought by the parent. 

When he started to think about what Regris had said, he couldn’t stop the tears that slipped down his face. He could have, even by some small chance, killed Thace on accident, all because he couldn’t wait. 

-

When Kolivan woke up, the first thing he realized was that Keith was nowhere to be found. He looked around and smiled gently when he saw Regris.

“Kit, do you know where Keith is?” He asked. Regris looked up and sighed in frustration.

“He went to go see Thace while we were asleep.” Regris said. Kolivan frowned.

“Do you know where he is now?” He asked. Regris shook his head honestly. 

“No, I told him to go away until he could understand how to actually listen to people.” Regris explained. Kolivan stared at Regris for a second out of shock.

“Kit, I get that you were probably mad at Keith, but that does not mean you can say something like that to him. You know that Keith struggles with his emotions, having Thace hurt probably made it hard to make his emotions come out as anything but anger.” Kolivan explained. Regris frowned and stayed silent as Kolivan woke everyone else in that pack.

“Keith is missing. We have no idea where he could be.” Kolivan explained to the tired, grumpy pack that was clearly not happy about being woken up. “I suggest we split up and try to locate him.”

“That sounds like a good idea, but how? Should we all go in different areas to look for him?” Krolia asked. Kolivan nodded.

“Yes. I suggest we start with areas where he would most likely be, like the training rooms or his personal room. Then we can go to other areas if we don’t find him.” Kolivan said. Antok nodded and walked out of the room to start the search for Keith, everyone following suit.

-

Krolia had separated from the group first, wondering of Keith had returned to the medical bay. She walked into the large room and walked over to one of the doctors that weren’t busy, since she didn’t want to disturb Ulaz.

“Have you seen Keith?” She asked worriedly. The doctor frowned and tilted his head.

“He came in here a little while ago, but he left soon after. I do not know where he went after that.” They said. Krolia nodded and sighed.

“Alright. Please let me know if you see him, though. And inform Ulaz when he is available.” Krolia said. The doctor nodded as Krolia left the medical bay.

Ulaz finished up with Thace a few minutes after Krolia left. He stepped away from his mate to let him rest in peace, and nearly ran straight into another doctor.

“Your pack member, Krolia, was here several minutes ago, saying that Keith was missing, and asked me to inform you when you were available.” The other doctor said. Ulaz frowned and glanced back at Thace, who was starting to stir from his anesthetic-induced sleep. 

“Thace, my mate?” Ulaz called softly when he saw Thace’s eyes open. Thace smiled weakly at Ulaz.

“Ulaz.” He said softly. “Is something wrong?” He asked worriedly when he noticed the frown on his mate’s face. Ulaz nodded and sighed softly.

“Yes. Keith is missing. If you are feeling okay, I would like to go help with locating him.” Ulaz said. Thace frowned and tried to sit up, giving up after a few seconds.

“Of course. Go find him, please, I don’t want him to be missing.” Thace said. Ulaz nodded and went over, kissing Thace’s forehead gently and scratching his ears.

“Alright, my mate. Do not hesitate to call me if you need anything at all, okay?” He said. Thace smiled and nodded, settling in to keep sleeping. Ulaz sighed and left the medical bay.

-

Acxa checked Keith’s personal room. The kit was hardly ever in the room, so it was cold and didn’t look very lived-in. His blankets had been mostly moved into their nest, and Keith had a few personal belongings in the room, haphazardly placed. 

Acxa searched everywhere Keith could possibly be in the room. Under the bed, in the closet, and every small cabinet, no matter how unlikely that possibility seemed. She couldn’t find Keith anywhere, and quickly gave up, heading back out.

She searched the dining hall, wondering if Keith had gotten hungry. She couldn’t find Keith anywhere, and the few people in the room in the middle of the afternoon said that they hadn’t seen Keith enter.

She checked under tables and around the rest of the room, sighing in defeat when she couldn’t find Keith anywhere.

-

Antok checked the training rooms in case Keith had decided to let out his emotions through sparring. He knew it would be a long task, since there were many training rooms. There had to be to accommodate the amount of blades that lived and trained in the headquarters. 

He checked the largest training room first, as it was the one he was most familiar with. He looked around the large room, unable to find Keith as he looked around, so he moved the side rooms. One of them was a locker room, and he briefly considered the idea that Keith was hiding in the lockers, but there was no way; even as small as Keith was compared to all the other Galra, he still couldn’t fit inside of the lockers. 

Another side room was a warm-up room, intended for stretching and warming up before training, but he couldn’t see Keith anywhere. 

He repeated the process with all the other training rooms, with no amount of luck.

-

Kolivan had been wandering around with hopes of finding Keith, with no luck. He was about to go back to the nesting room and retrace his steps to go somewhere else when he was suddenly gripped with fear of a possibility.

Keith was known for taking things seriously. What if he had taken Regris’ comment as serious as possible and completely left the headquarters?

Kolivan quickly went down to the hangars, absolutely panicked about the idea of Keith completely leaving. He looked around and ran over to the first attendant he saw.

“Have you seen Keith?” He asked. The attendant frowned and shook their head.

“No, I haven’t. But I just got here a little bit ago, would you like me to check the logs of people who recently left with a pod?” They asked. Kolivan nodded and followed them, frowning. 

“Keith hasn’t taken a pod since his last mission, so he hasn’t left.” The attendant said. Kolivan sighed in relief and relaxed slightly.

“Please let me know if you or anyone else sees him.” He said, leaving the hangar to keep trying to find Keith. 

-

Keith, meanwhile, was curled up in a nearly abandoned part of the headquarters that was mostly comprised of unoccupied bedrooms. His face was buried in his knees as he sobbed, trying to stop but unable to. He was torn up with guilt over what Regris was said, but he felt like he didn’t have a place to cry when Thace had it so much worse at the moment. A few sharp words shouldn’t have reduced him to tears, in his opinion. Even if Ulaz had talked like Keith had done something awful and Regris had suggested that Keith could have accidentally killed Thace. 

It would have been the second time he had accidentally almost killed Thace. The first time was the first encounter he had had with the man. Thace had almost died in an explosion that Keith was sure he could have prevented in some way. He could have gotten Thace to safety, at the very least, but Thace had ended up having to spend a week in a pod to recover.

When Keith could finally reign in his tears, he got up and went into a nearby bathroom, scrubbing away any evidence that he had been crying. He wiped away tear tracks and scrubbed until his eyes were no longer red and puffy. He snuck through the hallways, not wanting to be found. He couldn’t imagine being caught by his pack, and was even slightly scared of getting in trouble for being so, in his opinion, selfish, running away and crying when Thace had nearly died. 

He was glad he had taken the time to work on his stealth skills, as he managed to get to the medical bay without anyone seeing him. He saw Thace, asleep and seemingly recovering, and Keith felt a wave of relief come over him. He snuck around the doctors, knowing that they no doubt would keep him away from Thace to let him rest. 

He sat down next to the bed and leaned his head against the mattress, careful not to jostle Thace’s body too much. 

-

Thace woke up when he felt something leaning against his hand. When he looked over, he smiled when he saw Keith sitting next to the bed, his head leaning against Thace’s hand.

“Hello, kit.” Thace greeted softly. Keith jumped and looked over, smiling brightly. 

“Hey, Thace.” He said softly. Thace smiled and patted the bed, scooting over so that Keith had room to get up. Keith slowly got up and laid down, careful not to jostle Thace too much. Thace wrapped an arm around Keith and smiled, grooming his hair gently as he rumbled to Keith to reassure him. Despite Keith’s smiles, Thace knew that something was wrong. 

“Everyone is very worried about you, kit. They said you’re missing.” Thace said. Keith tensed and leaned his head on Thace’s chest, whining quietly.

“They aren’t worried, they hate me.” Keith whispered, his eyes filling with tears that he rapidly blinked away. Thace frowned and rumbled soothingly, rubbing Keith’s back. 

“Oh, kit, they could never hate you. Why do you think they would hate you?” He asked gently. Keith stayed silent, clinging to Thace. He felt like the lump in his throat was suffocating him, and he didn’t trust himself to speak for fear of bursting into tears for the second time that day.

Thace draped the blanket over Keith as well, holding him close to reassure him. 

“You do not want to talk right now, huh? That is okay, just relax and I will be here when or if you do want to talk.” Thace said. Keith nodded and tucked himself against Thace’s side, grateful that this was the side that wasn’t injured so he could shuffle closer than usual. He laid in silence for a few minutes before speaking.

“Regris told me to go away until I could actually listen to people.” Keith admitted in a soft voice. Thace frowned and looked at Keith.

“Kit, you may be stubborn and less inclined to follow directions, but that makes you who you are. It is frustrating sometimes, but you wouldn’t be you if you just obeyed everything.” Thace said. Keith frowned and tensed in the way Thace had come to recognize as Keith holding back tears. 

“I have a feeling there is more to this story, kit. Care to share?” He asked. Keith frowned and shrugged meekly. 

“There’s nothing more to the story.” He whispered. Thace frowned and laid Keith’s head against his shoulder, making a soft cooing sound when he heard a choked-off sob from his kit.

“Oh, kit, everything’s okay. Just let it out, everything will be okay.” Thace said as Keith started to sob into his shoulder. He rubbed Keith’s back gently and rumbled soothingly. He watched sadly as Keith cried himself to sleep, holding Keith securely in his arms. He knew that things such as what Regris had said often cut deeply because of the fact that Keith had been hated by people on Earth for that very reason. 

 

-

Keith had been asleep for about a varga when Thace saw Ulaz enter the medical bay. Ulaz stared in shock at Keith, looking exhausted and worried.

“Keith had been here… the entire… time?” He asked. Thace shook his head.

“No, not the entire time, my mate. He has only been here for about a varga and a half.” Thace said. Ulaz blinked rapidly and sighed in exhaustion, calling the rest of the pack on his datapad so they knew to come to the medical bay. He looked at Keith in disbelief.

“I can not believe he’s been in here for so long.” Ulaz said. Thace held Keith close and rumbled gently as Keith whimpered in his sleep. 

Kolivan and Antok came in, both relaxing in relief when they saw Keith sleeping against Thace. They reached over until they were touching Thace in some way, purring quietly when they realized that Thace was completely fine aside from the stitches in his side.

It didn’t take long for Krolia, Acxa, and Regris to come in as well, all finding a way to be connected to Thace. Krolia leaned over and nuzzled against Keith’s cheek before letting the kit sleep, humming quietly. 

“We are all glad you’re okay, Thace.” Kolivan said brightly. Thace smiled and leaned into the hand that had settled behind one of his ears, purring. Keith, if anything, seemed to relax more at the purrs. Ulaz smiled gently and looked over.

“Thace is fine to go back to the nest, if he takes it easy.” He said. Thace perked up and nodded, though he refused to get up when he saw how Keith was sleeping on top of him.

Krolia smiled and lifted Keith off of him, making sure not to wake the youngest kit from their sleep. Thace let Ulaz help him up, careful in his movements as the group went back to their nest. Krolia laid Keith down and Thace laid down next to him, rumbling gently as he let all of the kits settle around him. Acxa was on his other side, mindful of his injury, and Regris was laying across his chest.

As Thace drifted into a light sleep, he grinned when he heard soft purrs from his kits as they settled down.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There was a prompt asking what would happen if Keith actually left, and that is this chapter!

“No, go away. Come back when you can actually think about the consequences of what you do.” Regris said, closing the door to the nest on Keith. Keith stood in shock for a few moments, tears welling up in his eyes as he considered Regris’ words. 

Thace was injured, being held in the medical bay as Ulaz worked on him. Keith really had only wanted to check on his pack member, though Regris had pointed out that Keith could have easily distracted Ulaz enough to kill Thace. Though Keith thought that the possibility was unlikely, he felt awful for even risking it. Tears started to drip down Keith’s cheeks as he turned away from the door to the nest, sprinting down to the hangars as he wiped his eyes free of tears. 

“I need to take a pod.” Keith said to the first attendant that he saw. The attendant looked at him and frowned when they saw the tear tracks.

“Where are you planning to go? You don’t have a mission assigned.” The attendant said. Keith shrugged.

“I’m going to go visit my friends, the paladins of voltron.” Keith said as an excuse. Really, he had no idea where the paladins were or if he could visit them, he just needed an excuse to get a pod. The attendant nodded and handed him the code to one of the pods.

“Alright. Don’t forget to go through basic pre-flight checks.” They said. Keith nodded and wandered through the aisles until he found the pod he had been assigned to. He climbed inside and sighed softly when he turned on the dashboard, watching as the dashboard glowed the trademark fluorescent pink of the blades, displaying different information depending on where he looked. Keith settled himself down in the pilot’s seat and grabbed onto the controls, guiding it out of the hangar and into the cold, unforgiving expanse of space.

-

Keith didn’t know where he was guiding his pod, though he knew he just needed to get away from the blade headquarters. A flashing light in the corner of his vision drew his attention over, and Keith swore that he felt the blood drain from his face as he saw the flashing warning light labelled ‘WARNING: FUEL LEVEL LOW’. 

Glancing around, Keith groaned at his lack of supplies. Part of the pre-flight checks were making sure that the pods had a sufficient supply of rations and water in case of an emergency, and he didn’t have any. He had none of the blankets he usually stored in the pods he was in in case of an emergency, either. In his hurry to leave the headquarters, Keith had completely neglected to go through the pre-flight checks.

Now, he was sitting in a pod that was about to run out of fuel, with no food or water, no way to warm himself up when the pods inevitably went cold when it ran out of fuel, with no idea where he was or how to get back to his home.

Keith felt tears start to stream down his face, more out of fear than being upset over what Regris had said. His mind immediately wandered to the worst case scenario, which was no one finding him until he inevitably died, whether it be of dehydration, starvation, lack of oxygen, or hypothermia, whichever came first. 

-

“Where is Keith?” Kolivan asked Regris when he woke up to find that Keith was missing from the nest. Regris looked up and shrugged.

“I have no idea. He went to go visit Thace, and then I told him to go away until he can listen to people.” Regris said. Kolivan paused and frowned, blinking in shock.

“Regris, I know you were probably angry, but you should never say anything like that to him. You know Keith struggles with his emotions, and Thace being injured probably didn’t help that.” Kolivan said. Regris frowned and nodded, whining in apology. 

Kolivan sighed and shook the other pack members awake, whining quietly in dismay. Antok immediately pulled Kolivan close when he awoke to the whimpers, sleepily grooming his braid, assuming that Kolivan simply wanted to be cuddled. 

“Keith is missing, I do not know where he is.” Kolivan said, effectively waking everyone in the nest who had previously been napping. Krolia and Acxa sat up, noises of confusion leaving Acxa as she looked around, as if hoping that Keith was simply hidden under a pile of blankets where he couldn’t be seen.

“We should split up to try and find him. He may have just gotten lost, he could be scared.” Antok suggested. Krolia nodded and stood up, helping Acxa up.

“How would we do that? Just go in separate directions to see if he’s around the base?” Krolia asked. Kolivan nodded and left the nest, going to go see if he could find his kit.

-

Krolia checked in the medical bay to see if Keith was still visiting. She frowned and tapped the shoulder of one of the unoccupied doctors.

“Excuse me, have you seen my kit?” She asked. It wasn’t a question as to who she was referring to, as they all knew the kits in the base. The doctor turned to her and shook his head.

“He was here for a little bit a while a little bit ago, but I have not seen him since. Would you like me to alert Ulaz that is he missing?” They asked. Krolia nodded and sighed quietly.

“Yes, please. Let him know that Keith is missing, and please let me know if you see my kit.” Krolia said, waiting for the doctor to nod before leaving the room. 

-

Acxa checked Keith’s room for her twin. She checked every nook and cranny, trying her best to make sure nothing went unsearched. She had seen Keith fit himself into impossible-looking places before, so she wouldn’t put it past him to be wedged in some small cabinet to hide. 

No matter where she looked, she couldn’t find any trace of Keith. Though it was his room, it was cold and didn’t look too lived in. All of Keith’s pillows and blankets had been transferred to the pack nest, and his clothes had been moved to his closet. 

Keith never really went into his room, but it was there for him if he wanted some time alone. He preferred lounging in the nest over lounging in his room. 

-

Kolivan tried to think of places in the headquarters that Keith liked to hide in when he was upset, but nothing seemed to come to mind. Keith had gotten a lot better at telling his pack about his feelings rather than hiding away and bottling it up. 

Then, a realization made the blood drain from his face. 

The hangars.

Keith was known for taking things as seriously as possible, and Regris had told him to leave. What if he had actually chosen to leave?

Kolivan darted down the hallways with a speed that was unheard of for him, nearly bowling over several blades and actually knocking over a poor, unsuspecting blade in the process. Kolivan made a mental note to apologize later. He ran into the hangars and leaned against the wall as he caught his breath. 

“Has my kit been here recently?” Kolivan asked the nearby attendant. The attendant looked over and shook their head.

“Not that I have seen, although I just recently started my shift. I could check the logs for you?” They suggested, and Kolivan nodded as he came closer to the attendant. The attendant pulled up the recent pod logs on their datapad.

“Which kit are you looking you?” They asked.

“Keith.” Kolivan answered shortly.

“Well, he left in a pod a little bit ago.” The attendant said. Kolivan swore colorfully and left the hangars, pulling out his datapad to call his pack.

-

Keith sat in the pod and wailed in misery as the ship puttered to a complete stop, drifting aimlessly through space. He had no one to blame but himself, of course, he was the one who had completely neglected to do the pre-flight checks.

Lucky him, too, for his stomach started to growl, reminding him that he hadn’t eaten since that morning. Keith had no idea how long to would be before he got to eat again, as he had also neglected to load rations and water for the case of an emergency such as this, which was usually the protocol. 

Keith looked around at the space around him, wondering about how far he was from home. He felt weirdly like the little kid who ran away from home, only to show up back at the front door ten minutes later in tears because they wanted to come home, because he just wanted to go home. 

Keith felt tears starting to slide down his cheeks as he started crying, curling up in his seat to preserve warmth. Without the pod having the power to raise the temperature, it was extremely cold. His blade uniform would usually shield him from the cold for the most part in this sort of emergency, but he had been in such a hurry that he had just left in his shirt and lounge pants, which did next to nothing to protect him from the cold expanse of space. 

The pod didn’t even have the power to send out a distress signal at all. Keith would honestly rather be taken aboard an empire ship than be stuck in the pod, in the cold and without food and water. At least if he was prisoner, he would be fed. Now, he was stuck, wanting nothing but to go back to his pack. 

Thinking back, Keith didn’t have a single clue why he left in the first place. Sure, he was upset because of what Regris had said, but surely his pack didn’t think the same way? Keith wanted to make sure that Thace was okay, but now he couldn’t even be told if he was okay. He was stuck, and Keith had no idea how he would get out alive. No one knew where he was or of the fact that he didn’t have any food or water or warmth. 

-

When the others in Keith’s pack were made aware of his disappearance, they were extremely upset. 

Antok had whined lowly and flicked his tail in agitation, his ears pinning back as tears filled his eyes.

“We must find him.” He declared, his voice wobbly and choked as he looked at the other pack members. Ulaz was holding Thace close in the nest, the two whimpering in distress. Thace had started crying softly, burying his face in Ulaz’s chest. Kolivan was, despite trying to be strong, very close to crying himself. He was just a lot softer when it came to his kits. Krolia had started crying as well, a hand covering her mouth in shock. 

Acxa had let out a wail of despair, clinging to Krolia and shaking her head as if it could change the fact that no one knew where Keith was in the vast expanse of space. She was extremely close to her brother, and she was upset when she couldn’t find him within the headquarters, much less in all of space. 

Regris stared in shock for several moments, unable to process the information for a moment. He had caused Keith to leave completely? Guilt clawed at Regris’ insides like a knife, making him feel sick for a moment. 

Regris knew that the pack had been Keith’s first real family that he could remember, and he had made him think he had to leave. He had made Keith feel like he caused harm whenever he acted on his wants to go see someone, when he was really just upset at the time. Now, he had no clue where Keith was or if he was ever going to come back. 

Did the others know what Regris had told Keith that made him leave? Part of Regris hoped they didn’t; that he wouldn’t be told off or punished for saying something like that to his sibling. But, at the same time, he hoped they knew about what he had said. That they wouldn’t let him off the hook and reprimand him for pushing Keith to leave his family. 

-

Later that night found Regris had his pack reluctantly settling down in the nest to sleep. They all had gone to bed much later than they usually would, wanting to stay up to see if they could find Keith or if Keith would come home. However, the kits were getting more irritable the later it got, and they wouldn’t go to bed without the rest of the pack. 

So, they were settling down in the spots that they usually slept in. Kolivan and Antok curled up against each other, as did Ulaz and Thace. Krolia was laying with Acxa curled up to her side, 

Regris stared at the nest for a few seconds. Usually, he would curl up against someone to cuddle in his sleep. Now, however, he didn’t feel as if he wanted to. Guilt was still clawing at him, and he felt like crying whenever he focused on it. He laid down and settled himself close to Thace and Ulaz, not quite cuddling up to them. He wrapped his tail around himself sadly.

-

Thace and Ulaz laid quietly together for an upwards of half an hour. Thace was struggling to sleep because laying in any way except for on his back aggravated his injury, yet laying on his back was very uncomfortable as a sleeping position for Thace. Ulaz refused to let Thace be uncomfortable alone, so he was staying up with him. Ulaz made a noise of confusion when Thace suddenly perked up and stood up. Ulaz was about to sit up and try to get Thace to come back to bed when his mate returned, setting another body down between them gently. It didn’t take Ulaz long to realize that it was Regris.

Thace laid down on Regris’ other side, grooming the oldest kit’s fur gently. Ulaz could hear Thace mumbling quietly to the kit as he fell asleep, his head pillowed on Ulaz’s arm. Ulaz smiled and rubbed Regris’ back, his smile turning to a frown after a few moments. 

“He is so tense, even in his sleep.” Ulaz said. Thace frowned and scooted closer, nuzzling Regris gently to avoid waking him.

“I think he may feel guilty. He was trying to separate himself from the rest of us. Poor thing was sleeping all alone, it reminded me so much of when he first joined our pack. Plus, he did say some hurtful things to Keith, he definitely feels guilty.” Thace said. Ulaz nodded and nuzzled Regris gently.

“He does not need to deal with guilt alone, he knows that, correct?” Ulaz asked quietly.

“I am sure he does, but I think he may also think we are mad at him. After all, he did tell Keith to leave and now he’s gone. He probably thought we didn’t want to cuddle him.” Thace said. Ulaz nodded and rumbled to Regris.

It didn’t take much longer for Ulaz to give in to the temptation of sleep. Thace didn’t mind, though, perfectly content to watch a show on his datapad since he couldn’t sleep. He pressed close to Regris and rumbled quietly to him throughout the night, thankfully getting the kit to loosen up a bit more. 

-

Regris woke up early the next morning. He hadn’t slept too well, so it was much earlier than he would usually awaken. He yawned as he sat up, his tail swishing as he glanced around to see if anyone else was awake. Ulaz was starting to wake up, and Thace was already fully awake, but everyone else was still asleep. 

Regris got up and stretched his arms over his head, going to change into clothes for the day. He didn’t say anything until he was changed.

“Good morning.” He said softly. Ulaz blinked awake and smiled.

“Good morning, kit. Did you sleep well?” Ulaz asked. Regris wasn’t aware of his tension during the night, so he assumed Ulaz thought he had slept fine.

“I slept well.” Regris said simply.

“Good morning, kit. What are your plans for today?” Thace asked. Regris shrugged.

“I don’t know. Go out and help look for Keith, I guess.” Regris said. Thace smiled and nodded, sitting up as Regris moved to the dining room to get breakfast for himself. Thace leaned against Ulaz and sighed quietly.

“He is avoiding us. He usually waits for someone to come eat with him.” Thace said. Ulaz whimpered quietly and sighed, holding Thace close.

-

Keith was miserable. He was freezing, curled up in his chair as tight as possible to conserve warmth. His shirt and pants did little to shield him from the cold that was present in the pod. His stomach growled what seemed to him as almost constantly, and he had registered the flashing warning on the dashboard that said ‘WARNING: OXYGEN LEVEL LOW’. He felt lightheaded due to the severe lack of oxygen in the air.

He let out a short, despaired wail, seeing no reason to believe that he would be found before he ran out of oxygen. He already felt pretty lightheaded, letting him know that oxygen would run out quickly. 

-

The paladins of Voltron were doing a short session of training in their lions, strengthening their bonds with their lions and working together to form Voltron in a quicker, more efficient manner than they had been previously.

So far, it was going pretty well. Pidge and Hunk spent a lot of time with their lions, so they had a near perfect bond already. Lance had bonded a bit with the red lion, but it was nowhere near the level that Keith was at. Allura could fly the blue lion well, but she never had the time to dedicate to strengthening her bond with the lion. Shiro had a strong bond with the black lion, but he never really visited the lions to strengthen the bond due to the fact that he was so busy all the time. 

“Hey, guys, do you see that?” The paladins were interrupted from their exercise by Pidge. They were the farthest out, having strayed over there as if watching something.

“What do you see, Pidge?” Shiro asked. 

“I don’t know. It’s a little bit away, but it looks like a blade of marmora pod. But its not moving, like its out of fuel or something. Should we check it out?” Pidge asked. Shiro frowned and guided the black lion to where Pidge was and sure enough, he could see the very distinct bright pink accents of the blade of marmora pods.

“Yeah, we should check it out. Someone might’ve run out of fuel. If that’s the case, bring them to the castle.” Shiro said. Pidge hummed in agreement and went in the direction of the pod, stopping next to it. They stepped out and pressed the button to open the entry to the pod. As soon as it slid shut behind them, their suit alerted them of the fact that there was low oxygen in the atmosphere and it wasn’t recommended to take off the helmet. 

Pidge stepped into the cockpit, gasping when their eyes landed on who was in the pilot’s seat.

“What’s going on, Pidge?” Lance asked worriedly. 

“Keith’s in here! My suit says there’s not a lot of oxygen in here, and he looks like he isn’t breathing too well. Keith, we’re gonna go to green, okay?” Pidge said, the last part directed at Keith. Keith looked over, his eyes widening when he saw Pidge. He nodded and got up, following Pidge. Pidge could hear worried murmurs from every other paladin. 

“Coran, I have a problem. Keith isn’t wearing his blade uniform, so he doesn’t have a helmet. What should I do?” Pidge asked. 

“I would suggest handing him to helmet and helping him into the green lion and have him toss the helmet to you. I think that would be the best bet.” Coran answered through the castle’s comm system. Pidge nodded and took off their helmet, putting it onto Keith.

“Right, so you get on and give me the helmet, okay?” They said, opening the entrance and smiling when they saw that the green lion had been dutifully waiting right at the entrance, jaw opened wide to let Keith and Pidge in. Pidge helped Keith inside, accepting the helmet from him and stepping on. As they guided the green lion back to the castle, they could see Keith already feeling a lot better now that he had a steady supply of oxygen around him. 

“Coran’s probably gonna want to put you in a pod for a bit, just to make sure you’re doing okay, but then you’re going to need to explain why you were in a pod with low oxygen.” Pidge said. Keith nodded and shivered, tucking his knees up to his chest. Pidge got up and moved into the storage room behind the cockpit of the lion, grabbing the fluffiest, warmest blanket they stored in the lion before coming back, wrapping it tightly around their friend. 

“I’m sorry, Keith. I should’ve realized that the pod would’ve been freezing without fuel.” Pidge said. 

“Its fine. You rescued me, though. Thank you.” Keith said, smiling up at them. Pidge smiled and sat next to Keith after putting their lion into autopilot.

“You don’t have to thank me, Keith. You’re my friend, did you really think I would just leave you there?” Pidge asked. Keith shrugged and looked away, frowning quietly. Pidge frowned and leaned so that their face could be clearly seen by Keith. “You don’t really think that, do you?” They clarified.

“N-no, I don’t think that. It’s just-” Keith whined quietly, a sound that Pidge recognized as one of his many Galra sounds. 

“Keith, did something happen to make you think I should just leave you there?” Pidge asked. “Am I getting warmer with that?” Keith shook his head. 

“No. I wanted to be rescued, I wasn’t planning on running out of fuel. I just… Yeah, something happened.” Keith said. Pidge nodded and frowned.

“When was the last time you had anything to eat or drink? I didn’t see any supplies stored in your pod.” Pidge said.

“Um… Maybe a little over day and a half?’ Keith asked. Pidge frowned and got up again, disappearing into the storage room and showing up again with a hydration pouch and a granola bar.

“Eat and drink this. It isn’t much, but it’s something until you get out of the healing pod.” Pidge said. Keith drined the hydration pouch and ate the granola bar, purring quietly. “Once we know you’re okay, we’ll call your pack, okay? God, they’re probably worried sick about you.” Pidge said. Keith rapidly shook his head, tears filling his eyes as they landed in the hangars. Pidge stepped out of the pod and smiled when they saw all of the paladins and the two alteans already gathered, waiting for them and Keith. 

“Shiro or Lance, I need one of you to carry Keith out. He started crying when I mentioned calling his pack, so I didn’t try to get him out.” Pidge said. Shiro immediately stepped into the green lion, crouching down in front of Keith.

 

“Hey, Keith, buddy? I’m gonna need you to get up. Coran’s got a pod ready for you.” Shiro said, helping Keith to his feet and urging him out of the lion. Keith was immediately led to the infirmary and put into a pod suit. Keith struggled at first before he decided to just give in and change into the suit before he was forced into it, stepping into the pod. 

“What did he even do to get into a pod that didn’t have a lot of oxygen?” Hunk asked. 

“Well, I don’t know for sure, but I think it has something to do with his pack. He got super upset when I mentioned calling his pack, maybe they got into an argument and he ran away? He did say he didn’t plan on running out of fuel.” Pidge said. Shiro sighed quietly.

“Well, if I know anything about Keith, that’s absolutely likely. He had a really bad tendency to… run away from his problems, in a way. He’s ran away from Matt and I’s apartment on Earth more times than I can count because we were disappointed in him for getting into a fight or back talking a teacher, and he thought we were going to give him back or get rid of him.” Shiro said. Pidge sighed quietly and looked up at Keith.

“Well, I guess we won’t know until he tells us. Hunk, he said he hasn’t eaten in about a day and a half. I gave him a granola bar, but can you make him something more filling?” Pidge asked. Hunk nodded/

“Of course! In fact, I think I have some ingredients that Galra really like.” Hunk said, leaving the room and to go the kitchen. Lance sighed sadly and left the room, coming back with Keith’s favorite blanket on the castle.

-

Keith’s pack had all been going on short trips out in the pods to see if Keith was in vicinity of the headquarters. 

Regris had left earliest in the morning, eager to see if he could find Keith. From there, everyone made sure that at least one person was present in the headquarters to greet the others that arrived home. It was typical of Galra packs to always have at least one person at home to greet those coming home from various activities. 

Though Krolia had been the one staying home until at least one of her other pack members returned, she was simply too desperate to find her son that she couldn’t bear to stay in the headquarters. She climbed into a pod and sighed quietly as she refueled it and loaded emergency supplies. No one would mind if she went to go find Keith, right? They would understand, after all, she had only just been reunited with her son, she couldn’t bear to lose him again. 

-

Well, as it turned out, Regris completely minded. He landed in the hangars and guided the pod to a parking space, stepping out and onto the ground. When he didn’t see anyone waiting for him, he wasn’t too worried. He simply assumed that whoever had been there had gone to take a nap, and he was pretty close to joining them. He had gone until he was close to running out of fuel, and he had been gone since after breakfast. 

When Regris entered the nest, however, he was surprised to discover that no one was there. He let out a confused noise as he looked around. After he made sure that no one was hidden under blankets, he wandered around the base, calling out for his pack occasionally. It didn’t take him long to conclude that no one from his pack was on the base.

Had they abandoned him? Regris had never not had anyone from his pack greet him, or be somewhere in the base. What were the odds that they wouldn’t be there right when he got home? There was no doubt in Regris’ mind that he had been abandoned, tears starting to fill his eyes. He started crying, despaired whines leaving him that attracted the attention and worry of every adult Galra within hearing distance which, when it came to hearing kits, was pretty far. The ones nearest to him came close, a worried hand settling onto Regris’ back. 

“What is the matter, young one? Where is your pack?” The blade, a younger one named Snyv, asked. Regris just started to cry louder, forlorn whimpers leaving him. Snyv frowned and looked at his pack member, an older Galra named Andol. 

“Kit, where is your pack?” Andol asked gently. He had a lot of experience with kits and, when there were more kits in the headquarters, he frequently helped out with the daycare that was ran. 

“No one was there.” Regris whimpered out miserably. Andol and Snyv glanced at each other once again, and Snyv gently urged Regris into their pack room.

“Alright, little one. You lay down and rest for a little bit while we get in contact with your pack, alright?” Andol said, draping a blanket over Regris as he laid down. Snyv grabbed his datapad and opened up a call with all of Regris’ pack members. It wasn’t hard to figure out who it was, since everyone knew that all the kits on the base were currently under Kolivan’s care along with the care of his pack. 

When everyone picked up, they all looked very confused.

“Apologies for the sudden interruption, I’m sure you wish to continue to the search for your missing kit, but I truly think one of you should return here.” Snyv said. Ulaz tilted his head.

“Why is that?” He asked. He thought that, unless it was an emergency, everything would be fine. Snyv glanced worriedly at Regris when he heard another muffled sob, frowning.

“The older of your kits, Regris, claims that no one from his pack was present when he arrived. Now, I mean in no disrespect, but he was in near hysterics as any kit would be, and I can’t help but wonder why a kit would arrive home to no one greeting him?” Andol said. Ulaz blinked in confusion, as he had been under the impression that Krolia was in the nest, waiting for anyone to arrive home. 

“One of us will arrive home shortly, rest assured of that. Thank you for caring for our kit.” Kolivan said. 

“It is our pleasure.” Snyv said, ending the call.

-

As soon as Snyv hung up, Ulaz opened a call with all of his pack members that were out in the pods.

“Krolia, I thought you were supposed to be in the nest!” Ulaz exclaimed. 

“I thought it would be fine if I went to find Keith! He is my son, after all.” Krolia said. Thace growled lowly in frustration.

“Quiznak, Krolia. Yes, Keith may be your son, and I would never fault you for trying to find him, especially after all you went through to find him the first time, but Regris probably thinks he’s been abandoned.” Thace said.

“What do you mean? Regris has never been bothered by having no one in the base before.” Krolia said, confused. 

“Yes, that may be true, but Regris is also trying to deal with the guilt of driving Keith away. The poor thing probably has it cemented in his mind that he’s been abandoned for making Keith leave, and that we will all choose Keith and Acxa over him because they are your biological children, and he’s done something bad. He was so tense last night because of guilt, I was surprised he slept at all.” Ulaz said. Krolia froze and whimpered quietly. 

“Oh quiznak, you are absolutely right. I will go make it up to him.” Krolia said, guiding her pod back to the hangars and running to Snyv’s room. She knocked several times quickly before she opened the door, smiling when she saw Regris. She knelt down next to him and gently pulled him into her lap, grooming him until the oldest kit looked up at her. “Hello, kit. You want to go back to our nest?” She asked gently. Regris nodded and rested his head on Krolia’s shoulder. 

“Thank you for caring for my kit.” Krolia said as she stood up. 

“Oh it was no problem, Krolia. He is in desperate need of a rest, though, but I’m sure you know that already.” Andol said. Krolia nodded and carried Regris back to the nest, laying him down and sitting next to him.

“I am so, so sorry, my kit. I was too caught up in finding Keith that I completely disregarded how you might feel, which is absolutely unacceptable of me.” Krolia said softly. Regris looked up at her and tucked his head into her lap.

“Its alright, Krolia.” He said softly, stifling a yawn. Krolia smiled down at his and ran her claws through the longer locks of fur on Regris’ head that mimicked hair.

“Go to sleep, kit. I will be right here when you wake up.” She said softly. Regris yawned again and closed his eyes, nestling closer to Krolia.

“Love you, mom.” He mumbled tiredly as he drifted off. Krolia grinned and draped a blanket over Regris.

“I love you too, my kit.” She said softly. 

-

When Keith was released from the pod, he stumbled into Lance’s arms. Keith immediately recognized the figure as his boyfriend, though he was slightly disoriented. 

“Hey, babe. How are you feeling?” Lance asked as he draped Keith’s blanket over him. Keith shrugged and laid his head on Lance’s chest, blinking a few times to gather his surroundings.

“How long was I in there?” Keith asked quietly.

“Like… A half an hour? Maybe a little bit more. But Hunk made you something really good to eat!” Lance said. He could see Keith’s ears perks up as Keith straightened up.

“Can we cuddle afterwards?” Keith asked. 

“Of course! You wanna steal some of my clothes? The pod suits suck and I know you hate them, and we threw your clothes in the wash.” Lance said. Keith nodded and followed Lance to his room, rifling around Lance’s drawers before he stole a dark blue turtleneck sweater and a pair of comfortable pants. The sweater was loose on him, though not too loose, seeing as he was pretty close to the same height and stature as Lance. 

“God, you look so cute in my clothes.” Lance said. “Now come on, Pidge says you haven’t eaten in a while and Hunk made something real good.” Lance said, urging Keith into the kitchen.

As soon as Keith sat down at the table, Hunk set a plate of food in front of him. Keith grinned when he noticed that the meal had ingredients that Keith recognized as being immensely healthy for Galra, and a few that were healthy for humans as well. He started eating, purring at the taste. 

“This tastes amazing!” He exclaimed, continuing to eat. He purred in content when he was done, draining the rest of his glass of water. “Thank you for the meal, Hunk.” Keith said brightly.

“It’s no problem, Keith. I’m glad you liked it.” Hunk said. Keith nodded and stood up, grabbing Lance’s hand as they went into the lounge. Lance laid down and let Keith settle on top of him, his head resting on Lance’s chest. 

After a few minutes, Lance was startled out of his thoughts by something wet running over his cheek several times in quick succession. Looking down, he realized that Keith had been licking him.

“Keith, baby, sweetheart, the love of my life, you know I love you, but what the fuck?” Lance asked. Keith pouted and made a noise of offense.

“I’m grooming you!” Keith said, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. 

“And? I thought that that was only a Galra thing?” Lance said. 

“True, only Galra need to be groomed, but it is also a fairly intimate act, only done to people the groomer loves or considers family.” Coran explained when he came in. 

“Oh… I’m sorry, Keithy, I was just surprised. You can groom me if you want to. You know if that stuff helps with acne?” Lance asked jokingly. Keith shrugged.

“I mean, Galra saliva has a cleaning agent in it, so maybe it does?” He said, going back to grooming Lance with a small smile. Lance relaxed and let Keith, humming quietly. Eventually, others started to join them in the lounge. Shiro was laid back on one of the other couches, resting his eyes. Pidge was perched on the back of the couch that Shiro was on, their laptop settled on their lap. Hunk was sitting on one of the other couches, quietly reading a book on different cooking techniques around the universe. Allura had settled down on the space past Shiro’s feet, working on what Keith thought was very official-looking documents, possibly for alliances. 

Once Lance was asleep, Keith stopped grooming him to avoid waking him up. 

“Keith, why were you in a pod without oxygen or food or water?” Shiro asked. “Without your suit to regulate temperature?” He asked, his eyes still closed as he lounged on the couch. Keith shrugged a bit, careful not to jostle Lance. It didn’t help, as Lance woke up anyway. He had always been a very light sleeper, despite living in a house that always had some sort of sound back on Earth. 

“Well… it’s stupid, I overreacted.” Keith said. 

“Keith, even if you think you overreacted, I think we would all like an explanation why you were out there.” Allura said. Though her tone was the same formal level it always was, there was a hint of what Keith thought was worry. 

“Well… Thace got hurt on a mission. Ulaz went to the medical bay to take care of him and none of us were allowed to go visit him until Ulaz came to visit us. But I really, really wanted to see him, you know? So, while everyone was sleeping to pass the time, I snuck down to the medical bay to see him. Ulaz got kinda mad at me. Not the yelling type of mad, but more worried and stressed kind of mad? Anyway, he made me leave and go back to the nest. But Regris had woken up and he knew that I left to go see Thace and he got super mad at me. He said I was selfish and that I could have killed Thace by distracting Ulaz, and he said to go away until I could learn to actually listen to what people say,” at that point, Keith realized that he had been lowered from the couch and onto a few layers of blankets in a quick version of a nest, and he couldn’t help but smile at the small gesture meant to comfort him. As well as that, he realized that he was surrounded by everyone, tucked up against Lance and Shiro, and Pidge was pressed to his side. Hunk was rubbing his back regularly. Allura pressed against his other side, tense and unsure since they had never really been in that position with each other before. 

“Take all the time you need, buddy. We’ve got time.” Shiro said softly when he noticed Keith had been silent for a while.

“Well, I did leave. But, I was so desperate to leave as quickly as possible that I forgot to do the pre-flight checks. I didn’t refuel and I didn’t load any emergency supplies. So, when I left, I quickly ran out of gas and I didn’t have any food or water or blankets for warmth.” Keith said. He slumped in posture, leaned against Shiro. “I want my pack. I wish I didn’t leave, they’re gonna be so mad at me for leaving and being so selfish and running away because I got my feelings hurt because I was stupid.” He said miserably. 

“Hey, no, babe. They won’t be mad at you for that. That wasn’t selfish, it’s just how you handle things. Is it a habit that any of us think you should keep? Absolutely not. But you’ve been doing so well with talking out how you feel instead of running away. They’ll be mad out of worry for you, I guarantee it. One time, I ran away when I was kid, and I managed to stay away for three days before I was found. I can’t remember why I ran away, but my mom and dad were so mad at me, not because I ran away but because they were super worried about me.” Lance said. Keith looked up at him and smiled.

“So, can we call your pack? They’re probably so worried about you.” Pidge said. When keith nodded, they smiled and grabbed their datapad. “Alright, I loaded those Night at the Museum movies you wouldn’t shut up about last time you visited. Go ahead and watch those, okay?” They said. Keith nodded and grabbed the datapad, turning on the first movie with a grin. 

“How’d you remember that I liked these movies?” He asked. 

“Well, like I said, you couldn’t shut up about them last time you visited. Plus, I like to consider myself a good friend because I remember little details like that.” Pidge said. Keith grinned as he watched the movie.

“I’ve never really had anyone before Shiro and Matt that did stuff like that. My dad probably did, but none of my foster homes really remembered anything like that, and I didn’t really have friends.” Keith said absentmindedly, and Pidge’s heart broke a bit in their chest. 

“Well, now you have four dads, a mom, a twin sister, an older brother, a boyfriend, and so many friends.” Pidge said. Keith grinned and nodded, leaning against Lance. 

“Hey, babe. I’ve always wondered, do Galra ever shower? They don’t like, smell or anything, but you only ever talk about grooming.” Lance said.

“No, Galra don’t shower. First off, they hate water with a passion. Many can swim, they just won’t. Plus, its a good pack bonding exercise to groom each other. We clean things like hair and face every day, but we make sure to do full-body grooming at least twice a week, more if possible.” Keith said.

“Do you take part in that?” Lance asked curiously.

“Well, yeah. I shower, but it feels nice to be groomed. Its a natural comfort for anyone, so I sometimes fall asleep during it.” Keith said. Lance nodded and looked up when Shiro came back in.

“Your pack will be here as soon as possible, Keith.” Shiro said. Keith grinned, his tail smacking against the floor in excitement. 

-

When Ulaz walked into the nest after he came back from his adventure to find Keith, the first thing he saw was Krolia grooming Regris with a gentle smile. 

“You can leave now, if you want. I’ve got him.” Ulaz offered. Krolia hissed and pulled Regris closer, careful not to wake him up.

“No.” She said. Ulaz tilted his head in confusion.

“Why not? You wanted so badly to before.” Ulaz pointed out. Krolia shrugged.

“I promised Regris I would be here when he woke up.” She explained simply. She paused when Regris stirred, his eyes blinking open. He had clearly been awoken by their talking, so she leaned down and groomed his hair. “Shh, kit, go back to sleep.” She said.

“Mama?” Regris asked sleepily, reaching up to latch onto Krolia’s hair. Krolia smiled and leaned back so that Regris could make himself comfortable.

“Yes, kit, mama’s here, I promise.” She said gently. Regris relaxed and curled up, falling back asleep. Ulaz smiled and settled down close to the two.

Slowly but surely, the other pack members trickled into the nest room, laying down tiredly. Regris stirred awake once again, pressing himself close to Krolia. He made a whining noise out of frustration for being awoken from his sleep. 

“You five woke up Regris.” Krolia said. She laughed when Acxa came over and nuzzled Regris.

“Is he okay?” Acxa asked worriedly. It was an odd trait that seemed to be common between all of the kits; they all seemed to be extremely perceptive to their siblings’ emotions, more so than the adults in the pack. 

 

“He’ll be fine, my kit. He simply feels guilty about what he said to Keith.” Krolia explained. Acxa nodded and nuzzled him gently, purring quietly. She seemed to be trying to mimic a rumble, but she was too young to develop the sound. Regris smiled and leaned against her, his tail smacking against the ground in contentment. He popped his head up in confusion when he heard Kolivan’s datapad start to ring. 

“Hello?” Kolivan said as he answered the video call, revealing Shiro. Shiro smiled a bit. 

“Hello, Kolivan. If you don’t mind me saying, you’re looking a little worse for wear.” Shiro said. Though, Regris would argue that Shiro was one to talk, as he seemed to be perpetually exhausted. 

“Yes, well, Keith went missing yesterday, and we’re eager to find him.” He said. 

“Actually, that’s what I wanted to talk to you about.” Shiro said, causing Kolivan’s ears to perk up. “We found Keith during a training exercise. He’s at the castle.” He explained.

“Is he okay? Was he hurt?” Kolivan asked. 

“He’s fine, I promise. He was pretty cold because he ran out of fuel, but he’s soaking up the warmth of all the other paladins. Plus, he didn’t have anything to eat or drink, but we gave him some. He’s doing just fine, but he does want to see you guys.” Shiro said. Kolivan nodded and bit his lip.

“We are roughly six vargas away. We will be there as soon as possible.” Kolivan said, ending the call. He urged Thace to wake up from his light sleep. “We must go get our kit from the paladins.” He said. Though they were all tired, the entire pack was instantly awake and alert, rushing to the hangars and into a pod. Kolivan took a seat in the pilot’s seat, with Antok next to him. Krolia, Regris, and Acxa were sitting in the next row, with Krolia between the two kits. Whenever they were travelling, Krolia always sat with the kit because she had the most experience calming down kits when they got upset, which would calm any extreme distractions, as it was the pack’s natural instinct to comfort any of their upset kits. 

Kolivan guided the pod out of the headquarters and into the vast expanse of space. He set the GPS to the coordinates of the castle of lions, setting himself to be comfortable. Antok lead his head on his shoulder, reaching up a flicking off the seatbelt sign so that everyone could freely wander the pod if they wanted to. 

Regris got up and wedged himself between Antok and Kolivan, making whining noises for affection. He was extremely eager to get attention of the two, as they were the only two that still hadn’t acknowledged him or forgave him for his words. Though Regris knew it was because they had just been distracted, his heart snak painfully in his chest everytime he thought about them not forgiving him or not wanting to give him affection. 

Antok looked down and smiled when he saw his oldest kit, his his tail around him tightly and started grooming him. Regris purred quietly, not entirely surprised that relieved tears came to his eyes when Kolivan also wrapped an arm around him, focusing on his piloting while also giving him affection. 

“Oh, kit, what’s wrong?” Antok asked worriedly, concerned that his kit was upset. 

“Nothing. I just… I thought you guys wouldn’t forgive me and would kick me out of the pack.” Regris mumbled. 

“Of course we forgive you! You will still be in trouble for what you said, but we would never kick you out of the pack! You’re our kit, and we love you.” Kolivan said. Regris grinned and leaned against them, grinning wider when the castle of lions came into view. His tail wagged in excitement and Antok had to forcibly hold him down and tighten his seat belt so that he would stay in place during their landing. 

As soon as Kolivan had the pod landed safely, he was nearly bowled over in everyone’s efforts to get out to see their youngest pack member. He followed them out and into the hangars, where he found the paladins waiting. He raised his eyebrows when he didn’t see Keith.

“He was waiting for you guys in the lounge.” Hunk explained, yelping when he was knocked into Shiro as he was accidentally shoved aside to get ot the exit of the hangars. Shiro caught him and helped him steady himself, laughing quietly. 

Krolia was the first person to come across the lounge, grinning when she saw her kit. She ran in and pulled him close, keeping a tight grip on his clothes as if letting go would make him leave again. The others quickly settled around him, clinging to him tightly.

“Don’t you dare ever do that again, Keith Kogane! You scared the life out of us! Do you have any idea how worried we were?!” Thace asked. Keith shrugged sheepishly.

“Sorry. I wasn’t thinking.” Keith said. He leaned close to Thace and nuzzled him, relaxing when he saw that he was completely fine.

“You’re so extremely lucky your friends found you when they did, kit. You’d be dead by now if they hadn’t.” Ulaz said. Keith nodded and whimpered.

“I know. I wasn’t thinking. I was so scared, I thought I was going to die.” Keith admitted, curling up against Ulaz and nuzzling him. Ulaz nuzzled him and rumbled quietly. 

“Kit, thank the heavens you are okay! We were so worried about you. Please never do anything like that again!” Antok exclaimed, pulling Keith close with his tail. Keith nodded.

“I won’t ever do that again, I promise.” Keith said. Kolivan sat down and groomed Keith quietly.

“You will be lucky if we let you out of our sight before you’re of age, kit. You gave us quite a fright.” He said. Keith nodded and clung to him.

“I’m kinda thinking that night not be too bad at the moment.” Keith said. Antok chuckled and hugged him tightly. Acxa clung to Keith, whimpering until her brother groomed her, purring reassuringly. Regris shuffled forward sheepishly. 

“I am so, so sorry, Keith. I never should have said those things, you shouldn’t have felt the need to leave because of me. I will never do that again, I promise. But, I understand if you don’t forgive me.” The oldest kit said. Keith looked up and smiled, pulling Regris into a hug.

“Of course I forgive you, Regris! I’m a little hurt, sure, but I’m just glad I’m back.” Keith said, nuzzling him. Regris brightened up and buried his face into Keith’s shoulder, clinging to him tightly. Keith smiled gently and laid in the middle of his pack, letting them all groom and nuzzle him to their heart’s content.

“I love you guys.” Keith said, stretching out to sleep. His pack laid down around him, settling down to sleep as well.

“We love you too, kit. Never forget that.” Krolia said, holding Keith close to her as the kit fell asleep.

**Author's Note:**

> Check out my tumblr legendary-marmorans


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